2014 International Research Conference

Outstanding high school, undergraduate, and graduate students are invited to join research scientists from North America and abroad for a celebration of research accomplishments hosted by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, the global honor society for science and engineering research.

"I study how nitrogen-fixing bacteria affect plant defense, specifically how one mutualism, or beneficial relationship between two organisms, affects another mutualism. The other mutualism that is in this plant is a plant-defense mutualism. That is where plants will attract ants using something call extrafloral nectar...not for the sake of pollination, instead to attract plant 'bodyguards.' So aggressive behavior from ants helps the plants survive because they protect them from herbivores, or consumers."